“Old age comes at a bad time!”
– Sam Banducci
I think retirees will agree with that statement. We work all our lives and once we retire we finally have time to do all the things we dreamed of doing. But after awhile bad knees, backs and feet may put some restrictions on activities such as running, downhill skiing, etc. But we can often make some adjustments and find another way to get our outdoor exercise. Running can be replaced by walking at a brisk pace. Cross country skiing can take the place of downhill. Snowshoeing can replace cross country. You learn to do whatever works!
“Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.”
– Jennifer Yane
As we age we
often say that we are turning into our parents. I remember my mother telling me not to put my “stuff” on the dining room table. She kept it nicely polished with a pretty centerpiece. As an adult I have never liked to see “stuff” on our dining room table either. A nice centerpiece is all it needs! My father used to tell me to mow the lawn in different directions each week: up, down, diagonally, and in a square. I just wanted to get it done so I could go back to spending time with my friends. The “adult me” mows the lawn exactly as I was told almost 70 years ago. Research says that doing that will allow the blades of grass to grow straighter and healthier. My father was “onto something”.
“I’m at the age where my back goes out more than I do” – Phyllis Diller
Fortunately, my back (so far!) hasn’t stopped me from doing most things but some friends are not so lucky. Shoveling snow is a problem for them and living in Vermont we do plenty of that, although not much this winter until March 23rd! Gardening can be difficult when your plants are growing in the ground. Using raised boxes solves that problem. I grow veggies both in the ground and in boxes. I have to admit that not bending down to the ground makes life a whole lot easier. Saturday nights used to be a time for listening to music and dancing. Some of the fast dances from yesteryear would not be “back friendly” today. That could be one of the reasons why “staying in” eventually becomes the preferred way for seniors to spend their Saturday nights. When it came to dancing back in the ‘70s and ‘80s we had a lot of choices such as: The Fairmont Restaurant Lounge, 19th Green Restaurant, Holiday Inn and Pheasant Lounge. My husband, Peter, and I danced at all of them back in the day!
“Nice to be here? At my age it’s nice to be anywhere.” – George Burns
As my age group r
eads names in the obituaries we realize that we know too many of the people. That fact makes us feel very fortunate to “be here” and enjoying good times with our friends and family. As long as we are reading obituary names and are not one of the names in the paper we are having a good day.
“Old people shouldn’t eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” – Robert Orben
There is definitely some humor in that statement! A health food choice for me is a bag of potato chips that says “reduced salt”. Peanut butter cups are a weakness of mine so if the bag says “snack size” as opposed to “full size” they must be healthy, right? I have another food choice that might actually be a winner. I buy popcorn kernels in a bag and air-pop them. I drizzle just a little butter over the popcorn and no salt. That means fresh popcorn every time with no preservatives! When I am in search of “preservatives” I head to the beauty section of a store and I buy face creams with hyaluronic acid. That works for me!
“You don’t stop laughing because you grow older – you grow older because you stop laughing.” – George Bernard Shaw
I think this last quote is the one I want to live by…even if it means laughing at myself. I was pleased to see that medical research shows that laughing boosts your physical and psychological health. So find something to laugh about today!
